Introduction.Ma Zhu (1640-1711), a Muslim native of
Yunnan province, grew up during the turbulent mid-seventeenth century, when the
Manchus consolidated their Qing dynastyıs hold over all of what had been the
Ming state and much more.Educated
primarily in the Confucian curriculum and a well-known local scholar in his
youth, he developed an abiding interest in Islam only in his twenties, when he
traveled to the Manchusı capital of Beijing and spent ten years engaged in
Islamic study in the cityıs madrasas, mastering Arabic and Persian in
the process.

Ma Zhu found
most Chinese Muslimsı understanding of their faith to be shallow and riddled
with error, so he undertook to write a complete explanation and justification
of Islam in the literary language of China, a huge compendium which he called Qingzhen
Zhinan, the compass (or guide) of Islam.Unlike some other Sino-Muslim writers, he chose not to
translate Arabic and Persian texts into Chinese but rather to create a Chinese
text from scratch, incorporating Islamic material as he needed it.He was, after all, an accomplished
writer of Chinese, a candidate in the civil service examinations, and a proud
member of the Chinese literary establishment.He was also an important member of the Sino-Muslim literate
elite, a group of writers who produced hundreds of texts during the Qing
period.These writings ranged from
primers for children (³The Islamic Three-Character Classic²) to abstruse
philosophical treatises deeply influenced by Sufism (³Islam, Nature, and
Principle²).

Scholars have
disagreed as to whether Ma Zhu and his colleagues directed their work primarily
at Chinese Muslims or at a non-Muslim audience.Certainly one of his tasks lay in demonstrating that Islam
was entirely compatible with the values of Chinese culture and therefore a
civilized Dao, a legitimate Way.This might have helped to justify their differences from their
neighbors, such as endogamy and pork avoidance, which Muslims maintained in a
variety of settings in China.But
in attempting to justify Islam, Ma Zhu also had to make philosophical arguments
to demonstrate his religionıs superior understanding.This is particularly clear with regard to the origins of the
cosmos.

As Prof. F. Mote
and many other scholars have noted, Chinese intellectual culture included no
Creator external to the cosmos.Neo-Confucians, long the dominant school of thought among the Chinese
elite, held that the cosmos had originated from the Beyond-Ultimate, or wuji,
an uncreated entity which (unconsciously) generated the Great Ultimate, taiji,
which in turn (and without conscious effort) created Yin and Yang, the paired
complementary forces whose dynamic interaction both engendered phenomenal
reality and gave it energy.This
chain of transformation could not encompass a Creating God of the kind that the
Mediterranean religionsJudaism, Christianity, and Islamplaced at the heart of
their faith.In the chapter
translated below, Ma Zhu makes a place for the Islamic Creating God, Allah, Zhenzhu,
in Chinese culture.By drawing on
texts and well-known tropes of both Persian-Arabic and Chinese cultures, he
sought a satisfying resolution to the dilemma of a foreign religion in a
self-confident civilization:How
can we both belong here and maintain our differences without being
judged barbarous?

The chapter
translated here, on ³true benevolent love,² does more than speculate on the
origins of the cosmos.Ma Zhu
tries to convince his audience(s) that reality simply does not make sense
without faith in a creating God.He
calls upon both Chinese texts (philosophies and histories) and Islamic texts
(Qurıan, Hadith) to make his arguments, which include the conventional notion
that only a Great Craftsman could create so vast and complex a universe as we
see around us.Our senses, too,
are called upon as evidence of Godıs powerour sense organs are merely pathways
for the sensory stimuli that only God could create.The next chapter of the Qingzhen Zhinan, ³Cognition
of God by Experience,² takes up this theme in greater detail, again using both
Chinese and Islamic proof-texts.This text must therefore be seen as an inner part of a connected
argument, made within the vocabulary and often the textual tradition of
Neo-Confucianism, for faith in a unitary, creative, judgmental non-Chinese
God.As Muslims in China often discovered,
Ma Zhu had taken on a formidable task.

The Original Text

God[2]
flows into His slaves' hearts as formless and featureless[3]
bright light and manifests [Himself] in the myriad forms and appearances of the
mountains, rivers, and earth.[4]Only thereafter can food and clothing,
artifice and craft be created by human efforts.This is analogous to the five grains, flowers, and fruits
[which must be] planted in the earth, for only can then their flavors and
types, colors and fragrances each reveal its [particular] character.From this we may know that though the
myriad things are produced by the earth, this is not [done by] the water and
earth's own accord.Though the
myriad [human] activities come from the heart-mind, this is not [done by] human
beings' own volition.Reasoning from this point, [those who claim that the actions of ancient
innovators]--Fuxi's drawing the Eight Trigrams, Cangjie's creation of Chinese
characters, Rongcheng's design of the calendar, Suiren's discovery of fire,
Youchao's construction of shelter, Huangdi's making clothing, Shennong's
tasting the hundred [medicinal] herbs, Houji's distinguishing [among] the five
grains, Yiya's seasoning with the flavors, and Shikuang's tuning the [musical]
pitch-pipes--are due to the innovators' own abilities are rebelling against
God.[5]

Dragons
can soar, tigers can bite, bulls can gore, horses can kick, cocks can rouse,
dogs can guard, apes can climb, rats can burrow, silkworms can spin, spiders
can make a web, ants can form ranks, bees can make honey--their forms are
different, so too their special abilities; their diets vary, as do their
voices.These are analogous to
artisans making tools.Though
their forms and collection are dissimilar--the square and round, horizontal and
vertical, small and large, long and short--each is appropriate to its
function.We can see the subtle
working of their use and know the craftsman's remarkable skill.No one, gazing on the craftsman's
uncanny skill, could possibly call it the thing's own inherent nature.Why do bells not give birth to
bells?Why do drums not give birth
to drums?Can a wooden horse
whinny, or a stone cow low?[6]

By
extension, we may expand the argument--fire is hot and water cold, metal is
hard and wood soft.Although that
is the fundamental nature of these four things, the source to endow [them] with
cold and heat, hardness and softness can only lie in God's omnipotence.The various schools of [Chinese]
thinkers have not understood the original Mover of creation.They say that Beyond-Ultimate[7]
gave birth to the Great Ultimate, which could not but transform and generate
Yin and Yang.Yin and Yang could
not but transform and give birth to phenomenal reality [the myriad things].Pushing back before the Beyond-Ultimate
[in their theory], there is no Master to rely on, and they take Heaven and
Earth as in-and-of-themselves [uncreated].[8][For them] sageliness and stupidity
derive from the quality of qi [psychophysical stuff[9]],
death and life from the rotation of karma,[10]
intelligence and talent as belonging [entirely] to personal ability.No wonder that ignorant men and stupid
women mistake the created thing for the creating God and the formed thing for
the Ancestor of the formless.Thus
do they invert the root and branch and are incapable of fathoming the surface
and the core.They live like
drunkards and die in a dream, drifting [passively] along without ideas of their
own.[11]

Believing
this, [we may ask] why the chrysanthemum does not open in spring, the peach
does not bloom in autumn, the plum does not flower in summer, and the lotus
does not blossom in winter, and [why] it has eternally been thus.It cannot change even by one season,
cannot increase even by one thing.Thus can we know that the rotation of the heavens, the coming and going
of sun and moon, the cycle of the four seasons, the growth and decay of
things--how could they be made uniform without God?Even Yin and Yang cannot govern themselves.

This
is analogous to [the sense organs of] the human body.That which touches the eye becomes color, that which touches
the ear becomes sound, that which touches the nose becomes odor, that which
touches the mouth becomes taste.Without eyes one may gaze but never see, without ears one may listen but
never hear, without a nose one may sniff but never smell, without a mouth one
may flavor but never taste.Color,
sound, scent, and taste belong to phenomenal things, and they are the
nourishment for eye, ear, nose, and tongue.Eye, ear, nose, and tongue belong to the body, and they are
the borrowed path for sight, hearing, smell and taste.Sight, hearing, smell, and taste belong
to the natural disposition,[12]
so they are entirely the product of God's creation.If one commanded the ear to see, the eye to hear, the mouth
to smell and the nose to taste, it would transgress their functions, and they
could not.Thus we may know that
the Beyond-Ultimate is not God, but without it God's initial commandment could
not be manifest.The Great
Ultimate is not God, but without it, God's vast power could not be
manifest.Yin and Yang are not
God, but without them, God's subtle workings could not be manifest.Phenomenal reality is not God, but
without it, God's perfect achievement could not be manifest.Individual nature is not God, but
without it, God's perfect benevolence could not be manifest.If [individual nature] could govern
itself,[13]
we must ask where would it lodge during deep sleep and after death when, even
though it has eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, they are completely detached [from
individual nature].[14]

In
ancient times the Prophet Muhammad[15]
prophet was walking in the mountains when he saw a man lying prostrate on the
ground.[The prophet] was
surprised and said, "When I passed here before, he was lying here.Now I have returned, and he is still
here.Why could this
be?"Then the archangel
Gabriel [Zheboleyile] said to the prophet, "This man has been cultivating
merit here for five hundred years.God endowed [him with] a magic spring and well to slake his thirst, a
pomegranate tree which gave two fruits per day to assuage his hunger.This man prayed to God that, from the
moment of his first prostration [koutou],[16]
he might be allowed to enter heaven.God granted his request and said to him, 'Now, due to my benevolent
love, I have sent you to a heavenly place of sublime pleasures.'The man replied, 'This is not God's
benevolent love.I cultivated
myself to make it so.'God accused
him of presumptuousness, saying, 'Without me, could you live five hundred
years, or have the magic spring and pomegranates--even if you wanted to
cultivate yourself [for them], is it within your ability?'[God] then wished to sentence him to
hell, but the man heard the words in fear and trembling and repented his crime,
so God allowed him into heaven."The prophet touched the [man's] body with his hand--the corpse was
already old and rotted.

Therefore
an authoritative text[17]
says, "Rely on my God, acknowledge my God."It is also written, "If God's delight in humankind does
not precede humankind's delight in God, who would dare to say suddenly that he
loves God?"This is analogous
to children's concern for and attachment to their parents.If it were not for the parents' concern
and attachment preceding the children's, whence would come faithful filiality?[18]The Qur'an tells us, "When I [God]
love a person, I am [become] his ears, eyes, hands, and tongue.Thereafter he relies on Me to hear,
relies on Me to see, relies on Me to grasp, relies on Me to speak."[19]This is analogous to [the fact that]
the traces [evidence] of fire may be found in the warmth of the water [it
heated].The traces [evidence] of
spring may be found in the luxuriant growth of trees.For without fire, water is cool, and without spring, trees
are withered.

That
[we] Muslims can acknowledge God, delight in God, worship God, is due entirely
to God's benevolence.In all these
actions, we must cultivate ourselves without arrogance,[20]
be full of aspiration but never satisfied [with ourselves].Even if we made the waters of the sea
into inkstones, the mountains into ink, all the plants and trees into pens, and
the great earth into paper, we could never [sufficiently] record the perfect
benevolence of God.[21]If heaven and earth were our bodies,
the sun and moon the years of our lives, the rivers and deserts our hearts, and
the seas and tides our tongues, we could never [sufficiently] praise the
perfect benevolence of God.

'Umar,
leading his troops out to battle, saw two men who looked remarkably alike.[22]'Umar asked them, "Who are you
two?" They responded,
"We are father and son."'Umar said, "Even father and son needn't resemble one another as
much as this!"The father
replied, "Years ago I followed the Prophet into battle.This boy's mother was pregnant at the
time, and not long after I departed she died.When we returned in victorious triumph, I saw dazzling
energy shooting up toward heaven from her grave, and my heart wondered
greatly.The next day I returned
[to the grave], and the beams of light were as before.I thereupon opened the grave and saw
this boy suckling at his mother's breast.I immediately took the boy and closed the grave, returning [home] in
tears.A voice called to me from
the air, 'That which was consigned to me, I return to you for the sake of
peace.On that day you entrusted
his mother to me; now, for the sake of perfect peace, I return [him] to
you.'"From this we may see
that God is eternally merciful.If
we follow His righteous commandments, in life we may attain [our desires], in
death we may rely on Him.

If
behavior is not in accord with justice and actions not in harmony with the Way,
if your good works are not for the people and your service not to God, [then]
you will not even be able to maintain your own body, not to mention your wife
and children.Muslims,[23]
with their whole bodies and souls, inside and outside,[24]
must at all times depend on God.Not only will the descendants achieve God's sole benevolence, but even
in moments of desperate plight, crisis, and danger, hidden benevolence [will be
with you] even if you cannot discern it.

Therefore
if cultivation does not rely on God, it will be wasted.If fame does not rely on God, it will
degenerate.If nobility does not
rely on God, it will become coarse.If wealth does not rely on God, it will become poverty.If order[25]
does not rely on God, it will become disorder.If stability does not rely on God, it will become
endangered.[26]

In
ancient times, the Prophet battled against the Jews.[27]The two armies approached in battle
array, but the [Prophet's] followers showed their cowardice, so the Prophet
said, "I am as valiant as Hamza, as brave as 'Ali!The inner troops are utterly
courageous, the outer reinforcements are strong and numerous.Victory is assured!"On that day the battle was joined, but
the troops lost the way and were soundly defeated.They had no provisions, and for three days no commands came
from heaven.The Prophet
recriminated against himself for his sin of arrogance, and the Heavenly Command
then descended.[28]

Han
Gaozu [Liu Bang] had not a square foot of fief [when he began] and won all
under heaven; how could he begin so common and end so noble?[Qin] Ershi held the strongholds of You
and Hao [Passes], but despite his impregnable fortresses he perished at the
hands of a common soldier; how could he end so weak, having begun so
strong?Cao Cao's legions a
million strong went south of the river and perished in a single fire at Red
Cliff, while Ban Chao took thirty-six men and pacified the thirty states of the
Shanshan.[29]The withdrawal or maintenance of
heavenly commandments, the forward or backward direction of people's hearts,
strength or weakness, victory or defeat, achievement or failure, profit or
[loss], [in all of these] God silently takes an active part in determining the
outcome.Only when [we] simply
trust to this truth, then can it be eternally reliable.For if we take silently-aided ability
as our own ability, silently-consigned possessions as our own possessions, this
is the sin of arrogance, not merely a calamity for the world [but even worse
than that].

[1]Zhenci is not a standard term in any of the Chinese
religious or philosophical traditions.This chapter defines God's relationship to humankind as one of love (Ch.
ci'ai) expressed in benevolent acts from creation to miracles to the
regular rhythms of nature.Its
diction and rhetoric mark it as an apology, a sermon, directed at a Muslim
audience in order to convince them of Godıs reality and at a non-Muslim audience
to convince them of Islamıs legitimacy as a civilized Dao.

[1]Ma uses the Sino-Muslim term zhenzhu, True Master, to
name the unitary Islamic deity.Though some texts use the transliteration Anla (Ar. Allah),
the translation zhenzhu had become quite popular by the late 17th
century.It is related
etymologically to earlier translated Chinese names for the monotheistic deity
in both Roman Catholic and Jewish texts.Here and throughout the text, Ma elevates Godıs name to a position above
the rest of the text at the top of a new column, a standard device of
veneration usually reserve in Chinese texts for the secular emperor.He does the same with the names of the
Prophet (or his epithets) and the Qurıan, but to a position one level below
Godıs name.

[1]wusexiang, a Buddhist term which Ma joins with the Nur
Muhammadiya, the Prophetıs light which illumines the universe.

[1] Guangda Zhang finds this opening
sentence to have a peculiarly non-Chinese flavor, and its imagery is
reminiscent of the final chapters of the Qurıan, which describe Godıs majesty
as manifest in the majesty of the natural world.

[1] Ma Zhu could have chosen Middle
Eastern culture heroes here, but he lists the conventional Chinese myths of
human invention instead.Most of
their stories date from the 4th-3rd centuries BCE and may
be found in the Shi Ji and Huainanzi.

[1] This imagery, arguing for the
existence of God from the complexity and wondrous qualities of phenomenal
reality, is reminiscent of Sufi articulations of love of God.

[1]The wuji, also translated as Non-Ultimate, was held
by some Neo-Confucians to be the force which lay prior to and above the taiji,
the Great or Supreme Ultimate, in the generation of the cosmos.This theory may be found in the work of
many Song period scholars, but it finds its fullest expression in the taiji
diagram of Zhou Tunyi.Ma here
claims that the Neo-Confucians needed only one more step to correct
understanding, the prior and superior existence of God the Creator above the wuji.

[1] Ma Zhu uses the term ziran,
which means ³nature² or ³natural² in modern Chinese but in the 17th
c. had a more abstract implication.Some translators prefer the English neologism ³self-so² for this term.

[1]Qi, often translated as "vital energy," in
Neo-Confucian philosophical speculation included all the physical and
psycho-spiritual endowment of humankind.This translation is Daniel Gardner's.

[1]Given his use of terms such as these, Ma was clearly aware
of the Buddhist-Confucian-Daoist synthesis characteristic of late imperial
China, and he refutes their views of the human place in the cosmos one by one.

[1] Here and below Ma Zhuıs
argumentation resonates with a standard Muslim philosophical position, that
non-believers are blind and deaf, or like drunkards in their senseless
ignorance

.

[1]xingling, a difficult term which combines
"nature" (xing) and the internal, permanent, invisible,
soul-like ling.Since this
passage deals with physical ability, we have translated ling as
"disposition."It will
convey different meanings in other compounds below.

[1]Zizhu, literally "be its own master,"
assert its independence.

[1] Maıs argument on the senses and
consciousness parallels Zhu Xiıs 12th c. discussions of li
(principle) and qi (psychophysical stuff), which had become canonical by
the 17th c.

[1] In this passage, Ma Zhu elevates
the term ³prophet² to the top of a new line, indicating that he means the
Prophet Muhammad rather than some other member of that illustrious
category.The elevation in Chinese
takes the place of the conventional epithets (e.g., Upon Whom Be Peace) which
invariably follow the Prophetıs name in Arabic or Persian texts.This anecdote is not taken from any
standard Muslim source, but it embodies a common Sufi tropesuccess in
³spiritual athleticism² (as Hodgson called Sufi practice) precedes the sin of
arrogance and pride, salvation from which depends entirely on Godıs will and
mercy.

[1]Here Ma uses the conventional Chinese term koutou to
refer to the prostrations before God which are part of every Muslim worship
service.

[1] Ma Zhu does not elevate the word jing
to the top of a new line here, indicating that he does not intend the Qurıan
as his source.

[1] This analogy from a Muslim source
to a Chinese virtue (xiao, filial piety) encapsulates Ma Zhuıs approach
to the texts and values of his two culturesone can be used to demonstrate the
other by analogy or by parallel citation, and the two are mutually compatible
and reinforcing.

[1] This quotation is actually from the
Hadith, not the Qurıan.

[1] This passage is reminiscent of the Zhuangzi.

[1] Here Ma Zhu paraphrases the Qurıan
(18:109 and 31:27) for his own purpose, reshaping the Qurıanic metaphor by
transforming Godıs word into Godıs action in creation of the natural
world.

[1] This story, with its Sufi image of
light emanating from a grave, is not taken from any standard Muslim source.

[1]Here Ma uses the "insider" transliteration Mu'min
(Arabic for "believers") for "Muslims," rather than the
conventional Sino-Muslim translation Huimin.

[1]Shenxin neiwai, literally "the body, the
heart-mind, within and without," indicating the total human being.

[1]The use of zhi, "government," in this
passage, clearly points to political order.

[1] This passage utilizes conventional
Chinese attributes of a good worldcultivation, fame, nobility, wealth,
political order, and stabilityand places them in the power of a Muslim God.

[1] This story represents Ma Zhuıs
retelling of the battle of Hunayn, in which the arrogance of the Muslim troops,
not the Prophet as Ma has it, caused a fatra, a cessation of Godıs
commandments, for three days.

[1] Capitalization is indicated by Ma
Zhuıs elevation of ³Heaven² to the top of a new line.

[1] These allusions all refer to
climactic events of the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods in Chinese
historiography.All are standard
examples of the unexpected, but of course non-Muslim Chinese sources would
never attribute them to the actions of a Muslim God.If they sought non-human causes for these reversals of
fortune, non-Muslim authors would have invoked the Will of Heaven.Ma Zhu, on the other hand, uses them to
demonstrate that his readers, though they might be familiar with these events,
do not understand them unless they attribute them to Godıs silent but active
role in human affairs.

[1]Zhenci is not a standard term in any of the Chinese
religious or philosophical traditions.This chapter defines God's relationship to humankind as one of love (Ch.
ci'ai) expressed in benevolent acts from creation to miracles to the
regular rhythms of nature.Its
diction and rhetoric mark it as an apology, a sermon, directed at a Muslim
audience in order to convince them of Godıs reality and at a non-Muslim audience
to convince them of Islamıs legitimacy as a civilized Dao.

[2]Ma uses the Sino-Muslim term zhenzhu, True Master, to
name the unitary Islamic deity.Though some texts use the transliteration Anla (Ar. Allah),
the translation zhenzhu had become quite popular by the late 17th
century.It is related
etymologically to earlier translated Chinese names for the monotheistic deity
in both Roman Catholic and Jewish texts.Here and throughout the text, Ma elevates Godıs name to a position above
the rest of the text at the top of a new column, a standard device of
veneration usually reserve in Chinese texts for the secular emperor.He does the same with the names of the
Prophet (or his epithets) and the Qurıan, but to a position one level below
Godıs name.

[3]wusexiang, a Buddhist term which Ma joins with the Nur
Muhammadiya, the Prophetıs light which illumines the universe.

[4] Guangda Zhang finds this opening
sentence to have a peculiarly non-Chinese flavor, and its imagery is
reminiscent of the final chapters of the Qurıan, which describe Godıs majesty
as manifest in the majesty of the natural world.

[5] Ma Zhu could have chosen Middle
Eastern culture heroes here, but he lists the conventional Chinese myths of
human invention instead.Most of
their stories date from the 4th-3rd centuries BCE and may
be found in the Shi Ji and Huainanzi.

[6] This imagery, arguing for the
existence of God from the complexity and wondrous qualities of phenomenal
reality, is reminiscent of Sufi articulations of love of God.

[7]The wuji, also translated as Non-Ultimate, was held
by some Neo-Confucians to be the force which lay prior to and above the taiji,
the Great or Supreme Ultimate, in the generation of the cosmos.This theory may be found in the work of
many Song period scholars, but it finds its fullest expression in the taiji
diagram of Zhou Tunyi.Ma here
claims that the Neo-Confucians needed only one more step to correct
understanding, the prior and superior existence of God the Creator above the wuji.

[8] Ma Zhu uses the term ziran,
which means ³nature² or ³natural² in modern Chinese but in the 17th
c. had a more abstract implication.Some translators prefer the English neologism ³self-so² for this term.

[9]Qi, often translated as "vital energy," in
Neo-Confucian philosophical speculation included all the physical and
psycho-spiritual endowment of humankind.This translation is Daniel Gardner's.

[10]Given his use of terms such as these, Ma was clearly aware
of the Buddhist-Confucian-Daoist synthesis characteristic of late imperial
China, and he refutes their views of the human place in the cosmos one by one.

[11] Here and below Ma Zhuıs
argumentation resonates with a standard Muslim philosophical position, that
non-believers are blind and deaf, or like drunkards in their senseless
ignorance

.

[12]xingling, a difficult term which combines
"nature" (xing) and the internal, permanent, invisible,
soul-like ling.Since this
passage deals with physical ability, we have translated ling as
"disposition."It will
convey different meanings in other compounds below.

[14] Maıs argument on the senses and
consciousness parallels Zhu Xiıs 12th c. discussions of li
(principle) and qi (psychophysical stuff), which had become canonical by
the 17th c.

[15] In this passage, Ma Zhu elevates
the term ³prophet² to the top of a new line, indicating that he means the
Prophet Muhammad rather than some other member of that illustrious
category.The elevation in Chinese
takes the place of the conventional epithets (e.g., Upon Whom Be Peace) which
invariably follow the Prophetıs name in Arabic or Persian texts.This anecdote is not taken from any
standard Muslim source, but it embodies a common Sufi tropesuccess in
³spiritual athleticism² (as Hodgson called Sufi practice) precedes the sin of
arrogance and pride, salvation from which depends entirely on Godıs will and
mercy.

[16]Here Ma uses the conventional Chinese term koutou to
refer to the prostrations before God which are part of every Muslim worship
service.

[17] Ma Zhu does not elevate the word jing
to the top of a new line here, indicating that he does not intend the Qurıan
as his source.

[18] This analogy from a Muslim source
to a Chinese virtue (xiao, filial piety) encapsulates Ma Zhuıs approach
to the texts and values of his two culturesone can be used to demonstrate the
other by analogy or by parallel citation, and the two are mutually compatible
and reinforcing.

[21] Here Ma Zhu paraphrases the Qurıan
(18:109 and 31:27) for his own purpose, reshaping the Qurıanic metaphor by
transforming Godıs word into Godıs action in creation of the natural
world.

[22] This story, with its Sufi image of
light emanating from a grave, is not taken from any standard Muslim source.

[23]Here Ma uses the "insider" transliteration Mu'min
(Arabic for "believers") for "Muslims," rather than the
conventional Sino-Muslim translation Huimin.

[24]Shenxin neiwai, literally "the body, the
heart-mind, within and without," indicating the total human being.

[25]The use of zhi, "government," in this
passage, clearly points to political order.

[26] This passage utilizes conventional
Chinese attributes of a good worldcultivation, fame, nobility, wealth,
political order, and stabilityand places them in the power of a Muslim God.

[27] This story represents Ma Zhuıs
retelling of the battle of Hunayn, in which the arrogance of the Muslim troops,
not the Prophet as Ma has it, caused a fatra, a cessation of Godıs
commandments, for three days.

[28] Capitalization is indicated by Ma
Zhuıs elevation of ³Heaven² to the top of a new line.

[29] These allusions all refer to
climactic events of the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods in Chinese
historiography.All are standard
examples of the unexpected, but of course non-Muslim Chinese sources would
never attribute them to the actions of a Muslim God.If they sought non-human causes for these reversals of
fortune, non-Muslim authors would have invoked the Will of Heaven.Ma Zhu, on the other hand, uses them to
demonstrate that his readers, though they might be familiar with these events,
do not understand them unless they attribute them to Godıs silent but active
role in human affairs.